Original circa 1942 McCall Pattern No. 1012 - Hostess and Maid's Apron with Collar, Cuffs and Cap

Original circa 1942 McCall Pattern No. 1012 for a hostess and maid's apron set in one size. View A is a crisp maid's apron with a matching collar, cuffs, and cap, while Views B and C are pointed hostess aprons, one in a printed fabric with a contrasting border and pocket and one embroidered with cherries. Complete Nice Condition, with the original cherry transfer used but present.

Quick Facts

• Pattern Number: McCall No. 1012
• Year: Circa 1942
• Garment: Hostess and Maid's Apron with Collar, Cuffs and Cap
• Size: One Size
• Condition: Complete Nice Condition; Envelope Worn and Professionally Repaired with Lineco Acid-Free Archival Tissue and Acid-Free Adhesive; Transfer Used but Present (all three cherry motifs included)

Design

All three aprons share the same long, pointed silhouette: a narrow bib that widens into a skirt ending in a deep point, with a rounded patch pocket at the hip. The maid's apron in View A is edged with scalloped facings at the bib and hem and comes with a pointed collar, scalloped cuffs, and a small cap finished with ribbon, all meant for organdy or lawn. View B is cut in printed percale with a wide contrasting border and pocket, and View C is a pale hostess apron embroidered with clusters of cherries on the bib and pocket. The pattern includes 12 pieces, the cut and sew guide, and the cherry transfer, printed in three placements marked Left, Right, and Center Front.

A Moment in Fashion History

In the early 1940s the apron did double duty. The plain maid's apron, collar, cuffs, and cap were the uniform of household help, while the hostess apron had become a fashion piece in its own right, worn over a good dress to serve guests at home. This pattern puts both in one envelope and jokes that the hostess apron is for the maid's night off. As wartime jobs drew women away from domestic service, the household that once employed a maid was increasingly the household where the hostess did the serving herself.

Illustration

The envelope front and back are shown as scanned, framed on our blue mat without retouching, so the artwork appears in its true color and condition. Three women model the views: the maid in crisp white holds a potted plant, the hostess in cherry print carries a tray of glasses, and the third, in navy, reaches for a cocktail shaker, with the embroidered cherries pictured below.

Connections

This pattern shares page 30 of McCall's 1944 catalog, under the heading "aprons for all needs," with McCall 917, a ruffled pinafore apron with lazy-daisy embroidery and a choice of gored or gathered skirt. Where this envelope dresses the maid and the hostess, 917 is the everyday apron of a woman doing her own cooking, and by 1944, as wartime work drew women out of domestic service, those were more and more often the same woman. See the pattern from the same catalog page, McCall 917, Ladies', Misses' and Girls' Pinafore Apron.